


meet me in paradise

by rafehearteyesadler (prettierodds)



Category: Uncharted (Video Games)
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Dreams, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Grief/Mourning, M/M, i’ve never written rafe this SOFT but dying changes a person, pining samuel drake, pov sam drake, sorry folks rafe dies in this universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:47:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28309236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prettierodds/pseuds/rafehearteyesadler
Summary: Sam doesn’t know if he believes in an afterlife—or a god, for that matter. But he likes imagining Rafe somewhere quiet, without the pressures of his family or a doomed treasure hunt. Somewhere like this island, with nothing but time and potential.It’s a strange sort of irony, that he ended up back here in the end.
Relationships: Rafe Adler/Samuel Drake
Comments: 2
Kudos: 19





	meet me in paradise

Sam finds himself back on the island. 

He’s standing with his back to the water, blinking suddenly into the palm trees going inland. There’s warm sunlight over head and a cool breeze carrying the scent of salt from the ocean behind him. Sam closes his eyes, breathing deep and concentrating on the steady, lazy crash of the waves. He’s standing silent and alone on the shore while he waits for—

_waits for what?_

It’s not a _what_ but a _who,_ Sam realizes. He walks slowly up towards the trees. Sand sinks into the seams of his boots and kicks up to the hem of his jeans before turning gradually into silt and soil. 

The temperature drops a bit once he reaches shade. Sam couldn’t say for sure where he is, but his feet carry him forward with certainty and he senses he should be stopping soon. He brushes past long overgrown bushes and vines dotted with sweet smelling flowers, tall rocks covered in moss and lichen and somewhere in the distance he hears a stream. 

_Eden_ , some part of him thinks. 

It’s a beautiful scene, but Sam doesn’t pause. 

There are no indications as to how long he’s been walking; no shadows have moved, no change in the breeze or the weather. He only stops once he reaches a clearing where the once distant stream lets out into a small lake. The water is sparkling, diamond-clear and shallow enough to see the bottom. Sam studies his faint reflection at the edge for a few moments. 

_Samuel._

Sam is struck with an overwhelming sense of deja vú as he slowly turns, knowing who he’ll find coming out of the trees. He looks anyway, anticipation and warmth

_love_

building in his chest.

“Rafe.”

Rafe Adler smiles. “Samuel. You came back.”

“Well yeah, of course I did, dumbass.” Sam is breathless as he meets Rafe halfway. 

The last time Sam had seen Rafe was in the middle of a burning shipwreck, drenched in sweat and bleeding as he swung his blade at Nathan again and again, eyes lit by fire and rage. 

There’s no trace of that man here. Rafe’s eyes are warm, bluer than the lake behind them and lit by the sun. His smile is gentle, sincere, and where there should be jagged scars his skin is smooth. 

This is Sam’s Rafe. 

Sam carefully reaches out to rest his palm on Rafe’s cheek. “I thought I’d never see you again.”

“You can always find me here.” 

_Here,_ Sam thinks bitterly. It must read on his face, because Rafe furrows his brow and lays his hand on top of Sam’s. 

“Sam?” He says it like a question, but they both already know. 

“Here. This isn’t…” Sam struggles for a moment. 

Rafe is patient. 

“This isn’t what I wanted for us. For you.” His eyes slide shut. He wasn’t supposed to have Rafe in a _dream._ They were a team. Partners. 

They were supposed to be together. 

“You can’t blame yourself for things out of your control.” Rafe sighs. “I just...couldn’t stop. Or didn’t want to. Not for you, not for anyone.”

“But I could’ve tried _something._ I could’ve—I should have helped you.”

Rafe laughs a little. “You saw me.”

_Blood and flames flash through Sam’s mind, a heavy weight on his legs as steel swipes through the air, Nathan calling his name._

“This is how it was always going to be.” Sam only feels his frustration growing, but Rafe looks peaceful as he speaks. “I've attracted nothing but destruction my whole life. I think the only thing I never predicted was meeting someone like you.” 

He shifts his hands to both sides of Sam’s face and pulls their foreheads together. He smells like he did living, like cinnamon gum and cologne that probably cost more than Sam’s old motorcycle. 

“Dying turned you into a softie, huh?” Sam laughs as some of the tension fades. Rafe grins back. 

“The afterlife is surprisingly peaceful. Nothing to do but think.” 

_Sam doesn’t know if he believes in an afterlife—or a god, for that matter. But he likes imagining Rafe somewhere quiet, without the pressures of his family or a doomed treasure hunt. Somewhere like this island, with nothing but time and potential._

The air changes. 

It’s subtle, barely anything more than the breeze picking up and a cloud passing over the sun, but it fills Sam with dread. 

He’s waking up. 

Sam hangs his fingers from Rafe’s wrists, his hands still around Sam’s face. 

“I’m sorry I couldn’t save you,” comes out in a whisper. 

“I’m sorry I—” Rafe’s smile is uneven and doesn’t reach his eyes. “I’m so fucking sorry, Sam, for everything. I doubt we have time for the whole list.” 

“I think we can call it even.” 

They stay silent for a moment, leaning against each other as the sky continues to darken. Sam feels like he’s watching sand slip through an hourglass. 

“I’m not quite sure what to do without you.” Sam says finally. He was trying to avoid it, it’s a problem without a solution. Rafe pulls back enough to meet his gaze. 

“Don’t start that shit, Samuel, you’ll be fine. You’ll be more than fine, you have Nathan and Sully and. . . friends, I’m sure.” 

“I was presumed dead in a Panamanian prison for a decade. Kinda gets in the way of meeting people.” Sam says dryly. 

Rafe rolls his eyes, fond. “You’re a treasure hunter. Find a way to bring me back if all you’re going to do is complain.” 

_Sam can wonder. He can allow himself that, at least. A side project._

“Wait for me, Rafe.”

_There’s so much Sam hasn’t said._

“I have nowhere else to go.”

Sam wakes up with the feeling of Rafe’s lips ghosting over his and the sound of the ocean fading from his ears. 

_“You’re a treasure hunter. Find a way to bring me back.”_

The clock on the nightstand reads 4 AM, but Sam stands up and crosses the room to his desk. He dials a number on his cell and opens the lid of his laptop in the same movement. His fingers skim the keys as the dial rings in his ear. It goes to voicemail, but that was expected. 

“Nathan, hey—I know it’s early, I know, please don’t kill me. I was just wondering if you’re in the middle of any big hunts lately.”

**Author's Note:**

> this might be very slightly ooc, i’m wrapping this up at 1:45 am. i’ll come back to it eventually. 
> 
> merry christmas y’all, stay safe <3 
> 
> ((also yes i headcanon rafe liking cinnamon gum it’s my favorite fight me))


End file.
